1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a universal slot for accommodating various types of flash memory cards, and more particularly to a universal slot for accommodating various types of flash memory cards, which is changed in its case structure so as to allow various types of flash memory cards having different sizes to be inserted thereinto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a flash memory is referred to as a flash EEPROM, which is developed by combining advantages of two types of semiconductor memory devices, i.e., EPROM and EEPROM. The flash memory is a highly-integrated non-volatile memory device, which allows erasure of data stored therein and is reprogrammable.
To use such a flash memory card, there is need to provide a storage device, which utilizes personal computers as well as electronic home appliances, as platforms. As various storage devices based on flash memory have been developed in recent years, various applied electronic appliances such as digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, printers and keyboards, which are adapted to adopt such flash memories, have become commercially available.
As this kind of flash memory cards, approximately six types of flash memory cards are commercially available at the present day. Although all the six types of flash memory cards are memory devices based on a flash memory, the flash memory cards are different in their shapes and sizes, and techniques to mount the flash memory cards on the appliances are also different. Hence, the manufacturers of the six types of flash memory cards are cultivating their respective markets. However, it is difficult to realize the standardization of the flash memory cards under current conditions, and electronic appliances such as digital cameras, MP3 players and PDAs adopt different types of flash memory cards.
Accordingly, a demand for a product for accommodating all the types of flash memory cards is gradually increased. To accommodate many types of flash memory cards, it is necessary to provide the number of slots corresponding to the number of the types of the flash memory cards. As a result, since all the flash memory cards are different in the number and the position of their pins, their size and so on, there is a limit to miniaturization of the size of the products.
Conventional examples of inserting various flash memory cards into the corresponding slots are now described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 shows an example of inserting five types of flash memory cards into three slots, and FIG. 2 shows an example of inserting four types of flash memory cards into three slots.
In an example shown in FIG. 1, a Memory Stick 17, a CompactFlash card or a Micro Drive 18 and a Secure Digital or a MultiMedia card 19 are inserted into card holes 14, 15 and 16 of a slot 11 for Memory Stick, a slot 12 for CompactFlash card or Micro Drive and a slot 13 for Secure Digital or MultiMedia card, all of which are mounted on a printed circuit board 10 of a storage device. In this example, the CompactFlash card or the Micro Drive 18 may be inserted into only one slot, and the Secure Digital or the MultiMedia card 19 may also be inserted into only one slot.
In an example shown in FIG. 2, a Memory Stick 47, a SmartMedia card 48 and a Secure Digital or a MultiMedia card 49 are inserted into card holes 44, 45 and 46 of a slot 41 for Memory Stick, a slot 42 for SmartMedia card and a slot 43 for Secure Digital or MultiMedia card, all of which are mounted on a printed circuit board 40 of a storage device. In this example, the Secure Digital or the MultiMedia card 49 may be inserted into only one slot. Since the CompactFlash card or the Micro Drive 18 shown in FIG. 1 and the SmartMedia card 48 shown in FIG. 2 are different in width and thickness, the two types of cards must be used in different slots.
That is, to utilize the six types of commercially available flash memory cards together, at least four slots must be provided. More specifically, to utilize six types of flash memory cards, i.e., a Memory Stick, a CompactFlash card, a Micro Drive, a Secure Digital, a MultiMedia card and a SmartMedia card, in one storage device, which is adapted to write on and read data from the flash memory cards, the storage device must be provided with dedicated slots of the six types of flash memory cards.
A conventional small-sized memory card connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-158068. More specifically, the Patent discloses a small-sized memory card connector which allows a compact memory card to be freely inserted into a casing and then to be connected thereto, comprising: a plurality of terminal parts provided at different positions in the casing, each of which is adapted to be connected to a corresponding one of various memory cards; a sensor for detecting a type of a memory card inserted into the casing; and a stopper for positioning the memory card to a corresponding terminal part according to the detection by the sensor.
However, the memory card connector of the Patent has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to detect a type of an arbitrary memory card where the sensor does not include a switch for detecting a width of the memory card and a switch for detecting a thickness of the memory card. In addition, the memory card connector must have the stopper to position the memory card according to the detection result. The stopper is adapted to be protruded or pushed according to the detection result of the sensor, so as to stop the inserted memory card to a certain position. At this point, since the stopper is not fixed but moved by insertion of the memory card, there is a complication in its structure and a limit to its movement. That is, the stopper is pushed laterally when a long and slim memory card is inserted into the slot, while the stopper is protruded again when the memory card is pulled out of the slot. Accordingly, since the stopper is moved by insertion of the memory card, the slot is apt to be damaged. In addition, it is complicated to install the stopper in the slot. Malfunction of the stopper causes the memory card not to be inserted into the slot.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a universal slot for accommodating any of various types of flash memory cards.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal slot for accommodating various types of flash memory cards, which is changed in its case structure so as to allow any of various types of flash memory cards having different sizes to be firmly inserted thereinto.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a universal slot for accommodating any of various types of flash memory cards, comprising: a slot case divided into upper and lower spaces, and having an insert hole at its front face; a door provided at the insert hole, which is opened when the flash memory card is inserted into the insert hole; an elastic element for biasing the door to be closed; slide faces for directing the flash memory card into the upper space of the slot case; a plurality of insert guides with first and second insert guide faces into which the flash memory card inserted along the first and second insert guide faces and the slide faces is fitted, wherein, the first insert guide faces direct the flash memory card into the lower of the slot case and the second insert guide faces are provided at the inner position of the first insert guide faces to guide the flash memory card passed through the first insert guide faces; and a plurality of electrodes including contacts corresponding to pins of the flash memory card fitted in the plurality of insert guides.
The second insert guide faces may serve as blocking faces for preventing further ingression of the flash memory card when the flash memory card passed over the first insert guide faces are fitted into the insert guide.
The width defined between the second insert guide faces may be set to be smaller than the width defined between the first insert guide faces.
The first and second insert guide faces may be rounded to slope inwardly, and the slide faces may be rounded to slope upwardly.
The slot case, the first and second guide faces, the slide faces and the plurality of insert guides may be integrally molded.
The universal slot may further include card-holding portions, which are integrally molded to be extended from the insert guides and serve to support the inserted flash memory card.
The flash memory card, which is loaded into the slot along the slide faces, may be a CompactFlash card or a Micro Drive.
The flash memory card, which is loaded into the slot along the slide faces, may be a SmartMedia card.
The flash memory card, which is loaded into the slot along only the first insert guide faces, may be a Secure Digital or a MultiMedia card.
The flash memory card, which is loaded into the slot along the second insert guide faces, may be a Memory Stick.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a universal slot for accommodating any of five types of flash memory cards including a CompactFlash card, a Micro Drive, a Secure Digital, a MultiMedia card and a Memory Stick, comprising: a slot case divided into upper and lower spaces, and having an insert hole at its front face; a door provided at the insert hole, which is opened when any of the flash memory cards is inserted into the insert hole; an elastic element for biasing the door to be closed; slide faces for directing the CompactFlash card or the Micro Drive of the flash memory cards into the upper space of the slot case; a plurality of insert guides with first and second insert guide faces into which the flash memory cards inserted along the first and second insert guide faces and the slide faces are fitted, wherein, the first insert guide faces direct the Secure Digital, the MultiMedia card or the Memory Stick of the flash memory cards into the lower space of the slot case and the second insert guide faces are provided at the inner position of the first insert guide faces to guide the Memory Stick passed through the first insert guide faces; and a plurality of electrodes including contacts corresponding to pins of the flash memory cards fitted in the plurality of insert guides.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a universal slot for accommodating any of four types of flash memory cards including a SmartMedia card, a Secure Digital, a MultiMedia card and a Memory Stick, comprising: a slot case divided into upper and lower spaces, and having an insert hole at its front face; a door provided at the insert hole, which is opened when any of the flash memory cards is inserted into the insert hole; an elastic element for biasing the door to be closed; a plurality of insert guides with first and second insert guide faces into which the flash memory cards inserted along the first and second insert guide faces and the slide faces are fitted, wherein, the first insert guide faces direct the Secure Digital, the MultiMedia card or the Memory Stick of the flash memory cards into the lower space of the slot case and the second insert guide faces are provided at the inner position of the first insert guide faces to guide the Memory Stick passed through the first insert guide faces; and a plurality of electrodes including contacts corresponding to pins of the flash memory cards fitted in the plurality of insert guides.
Accordingly, the present invention enables only one slot to accommodate four types of flash memory cards including SmartMedia card, a Secure Digital, a MultiMedia card and a Memory Stick or to accommodate five types of flash memory cards including CompactFlash card, a Micro Drive, a Secure Digital, a MultiMedia card and a Memory Stick. According to the present invention, since four or five types of flash memory cards can be accommodated by one slot of the present invention, without providing their corresponding slots, the products can be made compact and can be manufactured at a low production cost.